Beauty Amidst The Ashes

09/03/2026

✈️🚗 PLAN YOUR TRIP TO HOPE2026!
Whether you’re traveling by car, plane, or piling into a vehicle with friends—we can’t wait to welcome you to Des Moines for HOPE2026!
We know getting away for a couple of days takes some planning.
✔️ Who’s watching the kids?
✔️ Where are we staying?
✔️ How are we getting there?
✔️ Where should we eat?
✔️ What should we do while we’re in Des Moines?
We want to make planning your trip as easy as possible!
Visit the Accommodations page on our website for information on hotel, travel and everything you need to start planning your HOPE2026 weekend. View the schedule and breakout sessions pages and begin planning your day!
Grab some friends. Make a weekend of it. And come experience HOPE2026 — Beauty In Becoming.
📅 November 6–7, 2026
📍 NorthPoint Church | Des Moines, Iowa
Still need to register for HOPE2026? Register TODAY and take $10/off registration with code: BACK2HOPE
We hope to see YOU in Des Moines!

09/03/2026

Welcome Philip Pattison to the HOPE2026 Conference!
Philip Pattison is a Foster/Adoptive Dad, Pastor and the Co-Founder/Executive Director of Foster The City, a movement of 400 churches working together to provide loving homes for children entering foster care. Philip and his family of 6 reside in the San Francisco Bay Area and you’ll most likely find him exploring new coffee shops, cheering for his kids at the ballpark or dreaming about ways that local churches can keep moving towards vulnerable children and families. 
November 6 & 7
NorthPoint Church
Des Moines
HOPE2026 is more than a conference—it’s a place to be refreshed, encouraged, equipped and reminded that God is still at work in the lives of children, families and the church.
We’re honored to welcome an incredible lineup of speakers who will challenge, encourage, and point us to Jesus. Whether you’re a foster, adoptive, or kinship caregiver, pastor, ministry leader, advocate, or simply have a heart for children and families, there’s a place for you at HOPE2026.
Come expecting to be encouraged. Come ready to be equipped. Come believing God can do more than you imagine.
🎟️ Register today! We hope to see YOU in Des Moines this Fall!
Learn more and register at www.beautyamidsttheashes.com (link in bio)

09/01/2026

We hope to see you in Des Moines! Take $10/off registration with code: BACK2HOPE
HOPE2026 Conference is at NorthPoint Church in Des Moines on November 6 & 7. We hope to see you! Register today at the link below.
Join foster, adoptive and kinship families, church leaders, professionals and advocates from across Iowa and beyond for two days of worship, teaching, encouragement and connection centered around caring for children and families.
HOPE2026 will feature uplifting keynote speakers, worship, 20+ breakout sessions, exhibitors, resources and opportunities to connect with others who understand the joys, challenges and realities of this journey.
Register today and reserve your spot ➡️ beautyamidsttheashes.com (link in bio)
https://beautyamidsttheashes.regfox.com/hope2026-conference-registration
https://beautyamidsttheashes.regfox.com/hope2026-conference-registration

Every child deserves a family. HOPE2026 is a conference for families, pastors and leaders stepping into adoption, foster care and orphan care. Two days to be encouraged and equipped while connecting with others. Early bird pricing available now.

09/01/2026

🎒f i r s t n i g h t b a g🎒
Give to children in Iowa foster care today! Every child deserves to feel seen and valued. Help fill a bag with essential and comfort items.
First Night Bags offer a meaningful and dignified alternative to trash bags often given to children entering foster care. Each bag is thoughtfully filled with essential and comfort items meant to bring a sense of comfort and security during a time of transition.
First Night Bags offer more than supplies – they offer dignity, comfort and hope to children entering foster care. When you give, you’re helping transform a moment of fear and uncertainty into one of care and compassion. It’s a simple act with a profound impact – a reminder to a child that they are seen, valued and not alone.
Give today at the link (The Hope Project) in our bio. Thank you for giving to kids in Iowa foster care.

08/30/2026

“Jesus steps into our brokenness, not to cover it up, but to create something beautiful through it. What the world sees as ruined, He weaves into a story of grace and redemption.”

08/30/2026

As I plan my Fall and Winter schedule, I would love the opportunity to visit your church or conference and share my story and about our organization. I firmly believe that those who have been adopted by God and given a family should be at the forefront of caring for children in need of families. This is the Gospel. I am convinced that as we more fully understand our own adoption into Christ’s family, we will be more engaged in the adoption stories of children needing families. I would be honored to share with your church family.
If you’d like to have Carl speak at your event, send us a message.

08/29/2026

We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus to a broken world—we must not forget that His hands and feet still bear the scars. Loving like Jesus is not clean, safe or convenient. Its costly. Following Jesus has always meant taking up a cross, not protecting our comfort.
Jesus didn’t love humanity from a distance. He stepped into brokenness, moved toward pain and allowed Himself to take sin upon Him and be wounded for the sake of others. And then He looked at us and said, “Follow Me.”
We cannot raise our hands in worship to a Savior who entered our suffering—and then use those same hands to push away the hurting, the inconvenient, or the broken around us.
Jesus made this unmistakably clear in the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37). The Samaritan didn’t stop because it was safe. He didn’t help because it was convenient. He stopped because love demanded action. And when Jesus finished the story, He said, “Go and do likewise.”
That command still stands.
Many children in foster care carry deep wounds—abuse, neglect, and trauma that they never chose. No child asks to be in foster care. No child deserves to be in foster care. Stepping into their lives will cost us something: time, emotional energy, finances, and comfort. But this is not optional Christianity. Scripture is clear:
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22)
And even more plainly:
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” (James 1:27)
The blessing of God is not found in hearing these words—it waits on the other side of obedience. On the other side of risk. On the other side of love that shows up when it’s hard.
If we want to look like Jesus, we must be willing to love like Jesus. And love like His comes with a cost.

08/28/2026

We hope to see you in Des Moines! Take $10/off registration with code: BACK2HOPE
HOPE2026 Conference is at NorthPoint Church in Des Moines on November 6 & 7. We hope to see you! Register today at the link below.
Join foster, adoptive and kinship families, church leaders, professionals and advocates from across Iowa and beyond for two days of worship, teaching, encouragement and connection centered around caring for children and families.
HOPE2026 will feature uplifting keynote speakers, worship, 20+ breakout sessions, exhibitors, resources and opportunities to connect with others who understand the joys, challenges and realities of this journey.
Register today and reserve your spot ➡️ beautyamidsttheashes.com (link in bio)

08/27/2026

The Gospel ✝️
As we more fully grasp our adoption story in Christ—that we were chosen, pursued, and brought into the family of God—may we be moved to step into the stories of children still waiting for that same kind of love. Our spiritual adoption should awaken a deep call to respond with compassion, action, and the same relentless grace we’ve received.
Everyone is called to do something. ⬇️
With over 2,500 children in Iowa’s foster care system and more than 5,000 churches in our state, the need is great—but so is the opportunity. We’re called to more than awareness—we’re called to action. Every one of us has a role to play. Join us as we say “yes” to the mission of James 1:27 and step into the stories of children who need to know they are not forgotten.
When we choose to welcome a child into our home, we welcome the very heart of Heaven – for the Kingdom doesn’t just include them, it belongs to them.
This is why foster care, orphan care and adoption matter so deeply – because when we as a church welcome a child in need, we’re not just opening our homes. We’re stepping into the heart of God.
As we more fully grasp our adoption story in Christ—that we were chosen, pursued, and brought into the family of God—may we be moved to step into the stories of children still waiting for that same kind of love. Our spiritual adoption should awaken a deep call to respond with compassion, action, and the same relentless grace we’ve received.

08/27/2026

Everyone is called to do something. ⬇️
With over 2,500 children in Iowa’s foster care system and more than 5,000 churches in our state, the need is great—but so is the opportunity. We’re called to more than awareness—we’re called to action. Every one of us has a role to play. Join us as we say “yes” to the mission of James 1:27 and step into the stories of children who need to know they are not forgotten. When we choose to welcome a child into our home, we welcome the very heart of Heaven – for the Kingdom doesn’t just include them, it belongs to them.
This is why foster care, orphan care and adoption matter so deeply – because when we as a church welcome a child in need, we’re not just opening our homes. We’re stepping into the heart of God.
As we more fully grasp our adoption story in Christ—that we were chosen, pursued, and brought into the family of God—may we be moved to step into the stories of children still waiting for that same kind of love. Our spiritual adoption should awaken a deep call to respond with compassion, action, and the same relentless grace we’ve received.